I’m always astounded when guys, particularly liberal/progressive guys, are not outspokenly pro-choice. If they got a woman pregnant, and abortion were illegal, they would be forced to become a father, whether they liked it or not. This issue deeply affects them.

This issue has come up several times lately in conversations with my guy friends:

Whether or not the child were to be given up for adoption, or if he decided to abandon the kid, he would still have to live with knowing that he has a child out there.

How many guys out there have gotten their girlfriend pregnant and just weren’t ready to be a parent? How many guys out there had a one night stand who would dread it if they had gotten the woman pregnant? How many guys out there got a woman pregnant and have no idea because the gal got an abortion without telling him? If that woman weren’t allowed access to abortion, BAM: That man’s life would be changed forever. He would be a father to a child with a woman he potentially never intended on seeing again. He would be forced into procreation. He would be forced into fatherhood for life and everything that comes along with that.

Why is it that so many men, good men, are so quiet on this issue?

(Shout out to my guy friends who ARE outspokenly pro-choice! Love ya.)

To commemorate the people who died in the shooting that took place at the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, (PPRM) the Planned Parenthood of Montana hosted a vigil. As one man who attended mentioned, we need to not only grieve for the victims of the violence, but also, we need to take action in the political process, to ensure human rights for bodily autonomy are not threatened. Only some twenty people turned out on the blistering-cold Montana night, but I know so many more who were there in spirit. I was glad to be a part of this vigil.

When I heard the news about the Planned Parenthood shooting, my heart plummeted. My heart goes out to all the victims in this horrific act of violence. A pro-lifer killing people. I can’t believe we are fighting this battle still and that a man took it this far as to commit a shooting. I saw an article about anti-abortion people actually praising the shooter who committed this act of violence, where it had a picture of a man’s Twitter account that read, “No sympathy for any pregnant female who was injured in the Planned Parenthood shooting that was there to get an abortion. She deserved it.” It is this blind hatred that astounds me: The idea that people who are so-called “pro-life” don’t value the life of the currently living, breathing woman at all, only the potential fetus inside her. So the pregnant, currently living human being doesn’t matter, just the potential fetus inside her. Got it.

I cannot believe it has come to this: A shooting at Planned Parenthood. Although it is rare to have a shooting at an abortion clinic, attacks on clinics are not: Since 1997, there have been 73 devastating attacks on clinics. But let’s think about all of this for a second: This was an act of domestic terrorism, geared towards women. And as Unitewomen.org pointed out, “[The shooter] told police ‘no more baby parts’ and distributed anti-‪‎Obama‬ pamphlets to neighbors. Will the makers of the fake videos, and the politicians and media who publicized the fake videos be tried as an accomplice for the murder of a cop and 2 civilians?”

Plus, as countless people have pointed out, including myself, only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion. The other 97% of what they do is cancer screenings for women and men, testing for STDs, women’s health services including pap smears and annual exams, and access to contraception for women and men to preventunwanted pregnancies that could result in abortion.

The thing about abortion is that it could become pretty much obsolete if we had comprehensive sex education and family planning in place for people who want it, something anti-abortion people are famously and ironically against. The data clearly shows sex ed reduces unintended pregnancy. That’s the crazy part about all this: If youngsters and adult sexual partners had the information to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy through comprehensive sex education and family planning strategies, then abortion would be nearly non-existent. Abortion needs to remain a safety net for those times of rape, incest, protecting the life of the girl/woman and for times when accidents happen, but abortion doesn’t need to be so prominent. If we had measures in place that secured a sexually-educated society that was able to prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place, people on both sides, pro-choice and ‘pro-life’ would be a lot happier. We need to start talking about this and making it happen because,

“Each one of us has indispensable human rights—rights that underpin our ability to live with dignity, to enjoy full and equal citizenship, to lead a healthy and fulfilling life. Simply put, reproductive freedom lies at the heart of the promise of human dignity, self-determination, and equality.” (CRR)

Here are a couple things to note with regards to the Planned Parenthood hearing:

(Graph credit: MSNBC)

1.) Only a tiny fraction, 3%, of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion. Just look at the graph to your right: Majority of what they do is cancer screenings, STD testing and other health services. Having said that, it shouldn’t even matter that abortion only makes up 3% of services, because abortion is legal! For good reason too: It serves as a safety net for women and children. Seriously.

2.) In fact, majority of what Planned Parenthood does, is help people AVOID abortion. Look at the graph again: See that 35%? You know, the biggest piece of that pie alongside STD testing and treatment? Contraception. Contraception makes up 35% of what PP does: They help prevent unintended pregnancies, which prevent abortions from happening in the first place. Mic drop. Boom.

4.) The highly edited video in question does not have any standing and Planned Parenthood does NOT sell fetuses. It’s insane that this statement even needs to be clarified. Samantha Allen, writer for the DailyBeast, synthesized a statement about the law by the Center for Medical Progress, stating,“Women undergoing abortions sometimes choose to donate fetal tissue for scientific research and abortion providers do not facilitate these donations without their explicit consent..transferring human fetal tissue is legal in the United States provided that payments are for processing and transportation costs.” Which PP is in full compliance.

5.) One last thing to remember, the majority of Americans support Planned Parenthood. A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that“At a time when Republicans have been calling for cutting off federal funding to Planned Parenthood and threatening to shut down the government to do so, the new poll found that a strong majority of Americans — 61% — oppose eliminating funding, while 35% support a funding cut off.”

“The facts are on our side” as Richards put it, and that is why she chose to meet for the hearing in the first place: Because truth will win out.